Stay tuned to https://mmainsight.com this evening for all the results live as they happen from the TUF 16 Finale in Las Vegas.
The prelims get underway at aprox 6pm ET (11pm UK) with the main card commencing at 9pm ET (2am UK).
(Press F5 as required to refresh the page for the latest results)
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Main Card:
Roy Nelson defeats Matt Mitrione by TKO at 2.58mins of Rd1
Colton Smith defeats Mike Ricci by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 30-26)
Patrick Barry defeats Shane del Rosario by KO at 0.26mins of Rd2
Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner
(Fight cancelled at the last minute due to Varner being ill)
Dustin Poirier defeats Jonathan Brookins by submission (d’arce choke) at 4.15mins of Rd1
Prelims:
Mike Pyle defeats James Head by TKO at 1.55mins of Rd1
Wow, a swift turnaround in fortunes here. Head looked the dominant force in the early exchanges, throwing the heavier leather. Pyle looked to be in some danger at this stage, but then he changed the momentum in an instant, grabbing a hold of the thai clinch and banging a right knee directly into Head’s face which dropped him. Pyle followed up with a flurry of lefts and rights and this one was all over.
Johnny Bedford defeats Marcos Vinicius by KO at 1.00mins of Rd2
Bedford’s punching power was the difference in this fight. He dropped Vinicius in the first, but his opponent did well to recover on that occasion. He didn’t fare so well in the second round though when Bedford buckled him with a right hand, then placed a kick to his downed opponent’s body and started working a flurry of right hands to his head which produced the KO finish.
Rustam Khabilov defeats Vinc Pichel by KO at 2.15mins of Rd1
Khabilov put on a suplex clinic here, airmailing Pichel several times in the early stages of the fight before one last throw dumped Pichel on his head, essentially knocking him out there and then, though unfortunately the referee didn’t realise straight away and Khabilov landed several powerful left hands before the fight ended.
Anthony “T.J.” Waldburger defeats Nick Catone by submission (triangle choke) at 1.04mins of Rd2
The first round of this one was fairly evenly contested on the mat and on the feet, but the real action took place early in the second. Waldburger appeared to hurt Catone with straight punches and then hit the mat looking for a guillotine choke. He almost casually switches it to a triangle choke, then moves Catone’s arm across to seal the deal and locks it all down until his opponent passes out.
Hugo Viana defeats Reuben Duran by TKO at 4.05mins of Rd1
Viana put a beating on Duran here. he found his range quickly and was springing in with big bombs that floored Duran multiple times in the opening minutes. Duran showed his heart to get up from the blows, but it didn’t look good for him and that was proven in the final minute of the round when viana again lunged forward with a huge overhand right that connected cleanly and KO’d Duran instantly, sending him face first down onto the canvas. Brutal finish.
Mike Rio defeats John Cofer by submission (armbar) at 4.11mins of Rd3
This one was for the most part a battle between Rio’s grappling and Cofer’s striking. In the first round Cofer was finding a home for his straight left’s and had Rio wobbled with one, but Rio recovered well and as the fight progressed he started to land some big takedowns and control the action from on top. Midway through the final round Rio was looking for a submission and rolled into an armbar. He had to fight hard to make it work, but eventually from his back he had Cofer wrapped up in a very uncomfortable position he couldn’t break free from and then cranked hard on that armbar to force the tap.
Tim Elliott defeats Jared Papazian by unanimous decision (30-25 x2, 30-26)
This was a good win for Elliott, but he almost never got the chance to display his dominance due to an unfortunate incident in the first round. On the ground Papazian threw an illegal knee that caused a long stoppage with Elliott appearing to be badly hurt. The cageside doctor took his time assessing him, but eventually allowed him to continue. Elliott still didn’t look 100%, but remarkably not 30 seconds after the fight commenced again he had dropped Papazian, catching a kick and then flooring him with a left hand down the pipe. From then on Elliott was in control of this fight, landing multiple takedowns and working some nice ground and pound with effective elbows that had left Papazian’s face a bloody mess by the end of the fight. Papazian threw bombs on his feet when he could and looked dangerous when doing so, but he was rarely connecting and Elliott was just too quick and was landing with more frequency. Overall, a convincing win for Elliott.
